How Should I pray?
How Should I Pray?
A lot can be said about prayer. However, one of the most pressing questions regarding prayer is, Is there a right way to pray? The answer is both yes and no.
No, there is not a “right” formula or set of words to pray. However, there is a correct posture and process of prayer. In Matthew 6, Jesus lays out not just the posture of prayer, but the process of prayer.
In teaching his disciples how to pray, Jesus begins by saying, “Go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who is in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6). In essence, you do not need a physical “secret place” to pray, although it might be a good idea to have one, but we do need a posture of humility as we go before the Lord in prayer. Jesus is contrasting the posture of praying people with the posture of the “hypocrites” who pray in the streets and who use many words to pray. Jesus contradicts this style of prayer by instructing his disciples and us to pray with a humble heart and not for show.
The posture of prayer is humble in spirit with sincerity of heart.
Jesus continues and teaches his disciples of a process to use in their prayers. He begins in verse 9 by saying, “Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom one, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
The Process Can Be Outlined Like this:
Honor the Father (v.9)
Pray for the Kingdom of God (v.10)
Pray for God’s Will to Be Done (v.10)
Ask for Daily Provisions (material and spiritual) (v.11)
Forgive and Ask for Forgiveness (v.12)
Seek Protection from Evil (v.13)
This process begins by honoring the Father, praying for his kingdom, and his will to be done. Then, the process flows down to our needs. In essence, the process is the concerns of the Father First, Us Second.
How should we pray?
Humble in Spirit with Sincerity of Heart
Father First, Us Second
There is no “right” formula to pray. However, there are guidelines around our posture and process of prayer.
When we pray, pray like this:
Humble in Spirit, Sincerity of Heart
Father First, Us Second
